I have been mentoring preservice teachers for many years now. The more I teach, the more I want to take this job seriously.
Today, my student teacher and I will work throughout my planning period to plan a lesson for student benefit. I'll focus on the lesson outline, pacing, and quality related to students' work. It's difficult for preservice teachers to visualize all the steps and actions that go into great lesson planning.
I'd like to see preservice programs change and grow to include more time for in-school work and mentoring. Currently the time is short to mentor these future teachers, and this is problematic. In an ideal world, universities and schools would work together to build dynamic lab programs that offer educators a stipend and time for mentoring. These programs would also include mentoring of classroom teachers by university professors and education experts. Programs like these would be win-win programs as they'd offer greater apprenticeship for preservice teachers, and more staffing n schools to meet students' needs.
Are you involved in mentoring preservice teachers? If so, what are the advantages of the program you're involved in, and where do you see room for greater change and growth.
